Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport is open

Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport opened on 31st October 2020. We took a tour, virtually, around the airport to see this new hub for Berlin. Originally scheduled for June 2012, the defects which prevented it opening previously have been corrected and all Berlin flights are now operating from here.

Passengers previously flew in to Tegel, which was closed on 8th November. The alternative was Schoenfeld which has been incorporated in to the new Airport and is now Terminal 5. An additional runway has been built, so there are now two that can operate at the same time. Although Berlin’s air traffic is down 70% this year due to Covid, the new airport will significantly increase passenger capacity and improve the visitor experience. The new terminals 1 and 2 are being used for full service and long-haul airlines, Terminal 5 (previously Schoenfeld) is being used by the budget and tour operators.

The railway station is directly under the Terminal, with a lift up to the departures and arrivals halls. There are two S-Bahn services which run to the city centre. A train runs every 10 minutes and the journey takes about half an hour. There is also a connection between Terminal’s 1, 2 and 5 which takes about 10 minutes by train. Berlin Airport has one self-checkin system which can be used by all the airlines rather than the individual airlines having their own. This means that passengers can use any point to check in their baggage. Terminals 1 and 2 have around 150 shops, restaurants and services, about half of which are local.

Nine hotels will be on or around the airport, including Steigenburger, Intercity and Holiday Inn, with a total of around 1,428 bedrooms in the area.

Nine hotels will be on or around the airport, including Steigenburger, Intercity and Holiday Inn, with a total of around 1,428 bedrooms in the area.

At the moment, there are Covid-19 measures in place for passenger safely. Mask wearing is required, as well as social distancing, screens between staff and passengers, sanitization stations and there is a Covid test centre, run by a private company, in the terminal.

Although we haven’t visited in person, we walked through the airport virtually, at a Visit Berlin webinar last week.